January 16, 2009
Dear Fellow State Committeeman,
The election of the next chairman of the Arizona Republican Party is less than 10 days away. It is time for our Party to get back to the basics of freedom, personal responsibility, limited government, and lower taxes. We must define who we are, what we stand for and communicate our conservative message to make Republicans across the state proud to be part of our Party once again. We do this by recruiting and training precinct committeemen and candidates, registering voters, and raising the money needed to turn out the vote.
You've no doubt heard conflicting reports on the issues of voter registration and fundraising from the current AZ GOP. There is no debate when examining the real numbers of voter registration and fundraising for the AZ GOP. I would like to take this opportunity to give you the information as attained through the Secretary of State's Web site, so you can determine for yourself if we can do better at registering Republicans and strengthening our finances.
During the 2006 cycle, when I served as Arizona Victory Director, the Republican Party registered 32,158 MORE Republicans than Democrats. During the 2008 Pullen Chairmanship, nearly 70,000 more Democrats registered than did Republicans. In fact, 8 out of 10 people who registered to vote this cycle decided against being a Republican. I've included a graph below with information attained through the Secretary of State's office.
In terms of fundraising, you'll see that from 2002 through 2006 we steadily increased fundraising through the Party. I am proud to say that in 2006, when I was director of the Victory campaign, the AZ GOP raised more money than at any other election cycle on record (See the graph below).
Again, these numbers have been attained through the Secretary of State's Web site and the Web site of the Federal Election Commission. The justification for the decline in fundraising for the Party during this time has been that Arizona’s money was directed elsewhere. Yet we had candidates who raised record amounts of money for their races (former State Senate President Tim Bee in his campaign for Congressional District 8). The economy has also been blamed, but in fact, during this same time period Democrats raised record amounts of money. In addition, there are no limits on how much money the Arizona Republican Party can raise for our state account. This means our potential to raise money to help our Party is unlimited and we should not only meet, but exceed, fundraising goals every year.
Two of the most important functions of the State Party are to register voters and raise money to support all of our Republican candidates. In 2010 we have all of our statewide constitutional offices on the ballot as well as a US Senate race, Congressional Races (and our best opportunity to take back CD1) and all 90 legislative seats. The 2008 election was the first time in memory that the AZ GOP could not fund a statewide early ballot mail piece to support our slate of candidates, nor could it fund an aggressive voter registration program. We lost 50% of the statewide seats on the ballot—not a good record for a red state.
We are at a crossroads and the path to success begins with the right kind of leadership. We must have leadership that understands the ever changing landscape and is willing and able to adjust to meet those challenges. Our future victories demand leadership that faces obstacles with answers. In the end, we need a Chairman that has the confidence and support of the contributors and the qualifications and experience to bring our Party together to ensure we expand and keep our majorities in the State. I have the experience and the leadership skills to do both, and will strive every day to improve the standing of the Party.
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me either by email, or by phone. I would be honored to have your support for State Party Chairman and I humbly ask for your vote.
With respect and appreciation for your service,
Lisa James
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